Court to quiz Coveney over contempt claims

The High Court is to be asked on Friday to make orders directing Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney to show good cause as to why he should not be jailed for contempt of court.

Mr Justice Sean Ryan yesterday was told that two Department of Agriculture employees believed the minister had breached an undertaking to the court not to fill two senior positions for which they had applied.

Technical agricultural officers Vincent Gormley and James Scott allege they were double-crossed in an appointments agreement. They say that when they took a legal challenge to court, the minister had breached the undertaking they claim he had given the judge.